US markets notched record highs on Wednesday, on the back of comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, who said that the US economy is in "remarkably good shape".
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) index closed up 1.3% at 19,735.12. Cloud and e-commerce company Amazon (AMZN) hit intraday all-time highs, as did iPhone maker Apple (AAPL).
Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) ended the session up 3.5%, trading near previous highs. Shares had eased back slightly by pre-market trading on Thursday morning but only edged 0.5% lower.
Reuters reported that Nvidia was in discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSM, 2330.TW), for its AI Blackwell chips to be produced at TSMC's new plant in Arizona.
Sources said that TSMC was already making preparations to begin production early next year.
TSMC's Taiwan-listed shares closed Thursday's session in Asia 0.5% higher.
A spokesperson Nvidia had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing, while TSMC declined to comment.
Shares in cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase surged 7% in Wednesday's session and was up more than 3% in pre-market trading on Thursday. This came after bitcoin (BTC-USD) topped the $100,000 (£78,692) mark for the first time late on Wednesday.
Bitcoin was up 6% on Thursday morning, trading at $102,791.91, with the cryptocurrency trading nearly 50% higher over the past month.
The digital token was buoyed by the news that crypto advocate Paul Atkins is US president-elect Donald Trump's pick to replace Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), said: "While questions linger over Bitcoin’s role as a reliable store of value, its speculative allure and the pace of crypto innovation are becoming hard to ignore.
"Institutional interest and regulatory shifts are adding legitimacy, turning what once seemed like a fringe asset into a force reshaping finance. Love it or doubt it, bitcoin’s climb is rewriting the rulebook for digital assets."
FTSE 100-listed (^FTSE) Shell and Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor (EQNR) announced on Thursday that they were combining their UK offshore oil and gas assets to form a new company that would be the UK North Sea's biggest independent producer.
They said that upon completion of the deal, the new producer would be 50/50 owned by the two firms. The deal is subject to approvals but is expected to complete by the end of 2025.
Shares in Shell were trading 1% lower following the announcement on Thursday, while Equinor's New-York listed shares were flat in pre-market trading.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said: "The big oil companies have been managing their gradual exit from the UK North Sea for years — the substantial discoveries having already been made and production in decline.
"Shell’s tie-up of its remaining North Sea assets with those of Norway’s Equinor should be seen in this context, but there will be modest hopes it could breathe some life into an industry in the doldrums.
"This kind of transaction is likely to be fraught with complications so it’s little surprise that completion isn’t expected until the end of next year."
The approval from the Competition and Markets Authority comes after 18 months of analysis of the proposed merger, a £16.5bn deal which will create the UK's biggest mobile network.
Vodafone shares were up 1% on the back of the news, and volatility in the stock this year has meant that it is up just 3% year-to-date.
Coatsworth said that this deal "comes with strings attached".
"These include the need to invest heavily in the UK’s 5G network and cap tariffs for three years," he said. "The regulator will be looking over their shoulder, like a teacher looming over an errant pupil, to ensure these terms are met."
In addition, Coatsworth said that Vodafone had a "long list of other issues to address, including weak performance in the German market, where it has been affected by regulatory changes".
Shares in Mike Ashley's Frasers Group slid 13% on Thursday morning, after the Sports Direct-owner warned that profits would be lower for the year.
In its latest results, the retail group posted a 8% fall in revenue to £2.54bn ($3.23bn) in the first half of its 2025 fiscal year, compared with the same period last year. Adjusted profit before tax for the first half was 1.5% lower year-on-year at £299.2m.
Frasers said recent trading conditions had been tougher in the wake of the autumn budget and amid weaker consumer confidence.
Given this uncertainty, Frasers said it now expected adjusted profit before tax to be in the range of £550m and £600m for the year, that's down from a previous estimate of £575m to £625m. The company said it also expected to "incur at least £50m of incremental costs going into FY26 as a result of the recent budget".
This latest drop in shares has left Frasers' stock 29% in the red year-to-date, with investors having also been focused on the group's headline-making attempts to gain more control at retailers Boohoo (BOO.L) and Mulberry (MUL.L).
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Investors will be hoping that the revised outlook will be enough to capture any further jitters over the vital Christmas trading period."
"All in all, it’s a tricky time for the sector, but one Frasers is handling with some dexterity," he added. "Despite the downgrade, profits are still expected to be in growth territory this year."
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Other companies in the news on Thursday 5 December:
